Change of tune

So I realized that I've been negative or critical about a lot of things.  The fact is that it's easier to criticize something that's different than to embrace it.  I think it's more of a coping mechanism.  At some point this week I realized how negative I've been, and started to make a list of all the thigns I lvoe about Madrid besides the care-free lifestyle, cheap booze, and endless nightlife.

Alimentación
Literally alimentación means food or nourishment, but they're produce stands/convenience stores that are all over Madrid, and most other parts of Spain.  They sell almost anything you could want from fruits and vegetables to litronas (40s) and bricks (boxes of wine) to snacks and milk.  Somehow I hardly pass any on my walk from home to work, probably because the majority of my walk is through pijo neighborhoods.  But it makes it so easy to stop on the way home to pick up fresh fruit or vegetables, which is something I really miss about New York.  In DC I have to go out of my way to pass any type of grocery store on my way home and even then the produce isn't always fresh.  But here I stop and pick up a tomato (tomate), zucchini (calabacin), or avocado (aguacate) on my way home from work on a daily basis and never have to worry about what coordinating my route home to make sure I can stop at the store.  My closest alimentación is next door to my apartment and it's really spoiling me.  Not to mention alimentaciones, unlike grocery stores, are open on Sunday which means whatever you need for your Sunday brunch you can still buy.  And if you're lucky, your alimentación sells fresh pan.

Metro
Sure, NY, DC, and Boston all have subway systems, but the Madrid metro is clean and efficient.  It was a gift to Spain -- let's call a spade a spade, it was a dowry gift from Great Britain when Victoria of Battenberg married then-Prince and future-King Alfonso XIII of Spain.  (Actually, they have a lovely wedding story.  They married in Madrid in 1906 when anarchists were alive and well in Europe.  An ancarchist attempted to assassinate the couple during their wedding but threw a bomb that somehow bounced off of phone lines and whatever else the bomb could hit so it missed the Royals.  The bomb succeeded in killing some visitors and Victoria's dress was stained with blood.  Everytime I pass by the site of the assassination attempt all I can envision is absolute mayhem but Victoria crying about her dress.  That may not be true, but it's how I see it.)  This is also why the Madrid metro runs on the "wrong" side of the track.  So while cars drive on the right side of the road, the metro drives on the left.  It takes a while to get used to.

Anyway, the metro is clean, and during rush hour you never wait more than 2 or 3 minutes for a train.  Compare this with waiting 6 or 7 minutes for either a blue or orange train to come, so 10 - 15 minutes if you need a specific train.  OK, first world complaints, but still much appreciated.  Thank you, Great Britain, for your generous contribution.  But thank you more, Madrid, for keeping the metro in good condition.

Respect for History
Europeans never stop reminding me that U.S. history is nothing compared to European history.  Their memories reach far back and hold on to a lot of the past.  One really great thing about this is the maintenace of old architecture.  In the U.S. we have a tendency to tear down buildings and erect bigger ones in their place.  Madrid, however, is more like D.C. in that there are newer parts of town, but in the older sections (|| Capitol Hill) buildings are preserved and converted into something else, but the façade stays the same.  And plaques are put up to remind people why that building or site is important.  It's really incredible to walk around Madrid and see the old buildings where so-and-so lived converted into retail shops and apartment buildings, or a hotel, but by the outside you'd never know that anything had changed in the last hundred years.  I actually took this for granted until someone mentioned it to me and I realized that it could be a huge economic investment to demolish and rebuild the city, but out of respect for the historical value of the city, they only invest in internal renovations, if that.